When learning the Lee Pro 1000 I found that a whole lot of things could and would go wrong! One of the things that frustrated me was the inability to stop the primer feed when the need arose. One need that I have that is personal to me is to spot check a charge by removing it from the press without seating a bullet. Oh boy! How do I run these back thru the press and bypass the primer operation and simply re-charge the round? Also what if I change powder and the weight and I want to run a spent round thru the press a few times? Dang! It sure would be a hassle to take the primer feed out of the press. Well here is a solution that I came up with that works pretty well.

OK... I know it looks like a hillbilly hookup but it gets the job done. Just study the pictures, grab the pliers, and you will be a fabricator in no time. I used a piece of soft galvanized electric fence wire .052 in diameter to fashion the primer retainer. I used some zip ties to shore up the primmer shute and to provide something clamp on.

Thanks for the compliments guys! I am thinking about submitting the idea to Lee. It could be fashioned out of spring material so that you could just clip it on. I think it would easily be worth a few bucks a piece if it were done professionally on a spring machine and bending dies. But hey it is just the machinist coming out in me. Heck I can even see a mod that you could just clip on and make sort of a gate. But that would take some time and cost some money. I am making my own boolits because I am short of doe not because I am rolling in it!

I had the problem initially but... I have learned that the Pro 1000 is very flexible. I just raise the actuator until the indexing is free then I can just move the shell plate forward or backward. I am always checking my charges this way.

To recharge I raise the ram until indexing is loose, move the shell plate so that I can insert the case that needs to be charged, move the shell plate to the right index, recharge and use the normal cycle to move to the bullet seating/crimp. I will do the same with a charged and primed case that needs to have the bullet seated.

The key for me is to not have a case moving into the priming position. If you do not hit the priming spring with a case, no primer will move into place. I will also rotate the case feeder a bit so that a new case does not fall. When I am ready to commence full progressive operation I rotate the case feeder back.